Council Raises Utility Rates, Talks Tuesday Market

By Laura Mulrooney

At their virtual meeting Wednesday, August 19 at 6 p.m., Gulfport City Council passed utility bill increases and approved insurance policy renewals.

Mayor Sam Henderson and City Clerk Lesley Demuth were excused from the meeting. Vice Mayor Michael Fridovich led the meeting, while Deputy City Clerk Kathy Cook-Tatay sat in for Demuth.

Residents Sing Praises of City Staff

The evening’s first public comments came from resident Karen Love, praising city staff for their commitment to and improvement of Gulfport.

“I want to thank the city and the staff for working so hard during this pandemic and continuing on our projects and improvements,” said Love. “I also want to thank the police and particularly Chief Vincent for projecting an attitude and agenda which is helping keep our citizens calm during these hard times.”

“Those people in the utility department care more than you’ll ever know about how people’s bills are created, if there were mistakes. I can’t begin to tell you how good those folks are and it goes all the way up to Cheryl [Hannafin, City of Gulfport Director of Finance],” said resident Margarete Tober. “When Cheryl knows the name of residents that have issues, you know they’re involved.”

Talks Begin: Reopening Gulfport Tuesday Fresh Market

The Gulfport Merchants Chamber has started the dialogue with the city about resuming the Tuesday Fresh Market.

Chamber President Barbara Banno submitted the GMC’s proposal to the council regarding updated operational procedures in the event the market does reopen.

The GMC originally projected a Tuesday, September 8 comeback for the market, but it may be about a month longer, according to Banno.

“We didn’t realize how much work we really have to put into it, to make sure we keep our community safe.”

Banno informed council about new operational guidelines for the Tuesday Fresh Market, including shifting booth entrances. The booths would be spaced further about and rotated sideways to free up congestion on the sidewalks. There will be hand sanitizer stations setup along Beach Blvd S and volunteers will roam.

“The market is a symbol of our community,” said Banno. “And we feel that all of the guidelines we will have in place do add a lot of safety to the community and adds a little bit of normalcy back into our lives.”

Send inquiries about Gulfport’s Tuesday Fresh Market to media@ visitgulfportflorida.com.

City Council Addresses The Tempest Over Utility Bills

Council held second readings for four ordinances concerning utility bill increases. Gulfport City Council met in person July 21 at city hall for the initial reading of ordinances 202003 through 2020-05. Since then, comments on local Facebook pages have caused some waves.

Resident Karen Love called in during public comment to address the confusion churning in the Facebook community.

“I’ve been in the city for about 10 years now and I feel that there are more complaints and conspiracy theories about what the city does about these water bills and the fact that they don’t get answers,” said Love. “I personally don’t believe that.”

“If an individual has a specific case with their water bill, my staff and I are more than willing to help,” said City Manager Jim O’Reilly. “I don’t want to get into a debate about what’s being said on Facebook. If an individual is willing to speak to us about their water bill we’ll be happy to talk to them.”

O’Reilly further explained what the percentage increases mean in dollars and cents.

The increase in sewage disposal, workers’ compensation, general garbage, recycling, water service, liability, automotive liability and storm sewers and storm water utility public offi cials liability. fees will increase a total of $5.12 for According to the city, Gulfport minimum use bills and $8.60 for originally projected a 10% renewal 4,000 gallon monthly usage. rate increase, but due to the current Councilmember Paul Ray also social and economic climate, the addressed Facebook comments on property insurance marketplace water bills. increases were “It goes through “We didn’t realize how higher than crescendo from time to time,” he said. “Every time much work we really have to put into it, to expected. Gulfport has made eff orts I see somebody make sure we keep our to keep claims that’s posting something, I community safe.” down, according to the city, including always send them eff orts of the a private message saying ‘please Safety Committee, Accident Review contact me’ and 99 percent of the Policy, Drug Free Workforce Program time I don’t hear back from them. and recurring safety training specific The ones that have gone forward to to individual departments. talk to the city manager or the water department have had resolution.”

Insurance Policy Renewal

Council unanimously passed four resolutions covering insurance policy renewals. The first resolution concerned city employee health insurance coverage with Public Risk Management of Florida Health Trust, Florida Blue. Renewal of the policy will incur a 3.5% or a $20.95 monthly increase for coverage during the 2020/2021 fiscal year. The city currently pays the employee’s entire base premium and a maximum of $2,400 will be allocated for each employee electing dependent health insurance coverage. The city’s cost for each eligible covered employee will increase from $598.80 to $619.75 – a total estimated cost of $1,105,684. The city’s coverage for employee long-term disability from Standard Insurance Company for 2020/2021 FY is expected to be approximately $47,916. There is no increase in cost. The city provides eligible employees with life and accidental death and dismemberment coverage from Standard Insurance Company. The 2020/2021 FY annual premium is expected to be approximately $34,225, with no increase in cost. The city’s insurance coverage with Public Risk Management of Florida will increase by 11.18% for a total of $81,331 during the 2020/2021 FY. This includes property insurance, workers’ compensation, general liability, automotive liability and public officials liability.

According to the city, Gulfport originally projected a 10% renewal rate increase, but due to the current social and economic climate, the property insurance marketplaceincreases were higher than expected.

Gulfport has made efforts to keep claims down, according to the city, including efforts of the Safety Committee, Accident Review Policy, Drug Free Workforce Program and recurring safety training specific to individual departments.

Overheard at the August 19 Gulfport Council Meeting

“School starts Monday, so be careful of the little children riding their bikes and going to school. Be careful of school zones; don’t speed through them, they’re expensive. And, please pay attention.” – Councilmember Christine Brown during council comments.

“Yesterday was the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment, giving women the right to vote. Now if we could just do equal pay for equal work, that would be nice.” – Vice Mayor Michael Fridovich

“You might not like yourself, but please like other people and wear your masks.” – Fridovich during council comments.

“We’re looking at doing outdoor movies at the Catholic church. Hopefully we’ll be able to start those early September, drive in or walk in; it would be a way to have some entertainment, socially distanced.” – Councilmember April Thanos during council comments.

Gulfport Merchants Chamber